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Fallout: London mod for Fallout 4 has released today on GOG  GamingOnLinux

{Updated} You need to use the dpkg command or apt-get command/apt command, which is a package manager from shell/command prompt under a Debian and Ubuntu Linux. You can use this tool to install, build, remove and manage packages. The dpkg itself is controlled entirely via command line parameters. Let us see how to install .deb package file in Ubuntu Linux using the CLI.The post How Do I install .deb Packages in Ubuntu Linux Using the CLI or GUI? appeared first on nixCraft. 2023-07-27T11:31:00Z 2023-07-27T11:31:00Z Vivek Gite

Am I using X11 (Xorg) or Wayland? Here is how to check for Wayland or Xorg (X11) Linux desktops using the CLI and GUI options. Love this? sudo share_on: Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn - Whatsapp - Reddit The post How to check for Wayland or Xorg (X11) Linux desktop appeared first on nixCraft. 2023-07-25T02:29:20Z 2023-07-25T02:29:20Z Vivek Gite

Thunderbird Is My Favorite Linux Email App Again, Here's Why  How-To Geek

Thunderbird Is My Favorite Linux Email App Again, Here's Why  How-To Geek

Dragon Age: The Veilguard gets Steam Deck Verified well ahead of release  GamingOnLinux

Fedora 41 Aims For Out-Of-The-Box Webcam Support For Newer Intel Laptops  Phoronix

Rust Is Ready With Robust Toolchain Handling For Linux 6.11  Phoronix

HID-BPF Improvements & Apple Keyboard Backlight Support For Some T2 Macs In Linux 6.11  Phoronix

HID-BPF Improvements & Apple Keyboard Backlight Support For Some T2 Macs In Linux 6.11  Phoronix

Apple Maps is now available for Windows and Linux  gizmochina

A NASA committee determined that the Chandra X-ray Observatory would have to cease operations under the proposed budget cuts in NASA's 2025 budget. The committee reviewed various options but found that only shutting down Chandra fit within the proposed budget, although alternatives could keep the observatory running with limited capabilities. SpaceNews reports: NASA established the Operations Paradigm Change Review (OPCR) committee this spring to look at ways of reducing the costs of operating Chandra and the Hubble Space Telescope as part of broader efforts to deal with a billion-dollar shortfall in agency science funding. The fiscal year 2025 budget proposal included a 40% cut in Chandra's budget, with further reductions through 2029, while cutting Hubble's budget by 10% in 2025. Astronomers strongly opposed the proposed cuts, particularly for Chandra. They argued that the reductions would effectively shut down the telescope, a conclusion backed by Patrick Slane, director of the Chandra X-Ray Center, in an open letter shortly after the release of the budget proposal. The OPCR concurred. "The committee agreed that the continuation of a scientifically viable Chandra mission is not possible within the funding guidance," said Rob Kennicutt, an astronomer from the University of Arizona and Texas A&M University who served on the review committee, in a July 23 presentation at a meeting of the Astrophysics Advisory Committee, or APAC. "This is a serious threat to the observatory." Shutting down Chandra was one of four options presented to the OPCR by the Chandra team and the only one, he said, that fit within NASA's proposed budget profile. Three others would keep Chandra going with reduced capabilities and with budgets higher than what NASA proposed but below current levels. "We think it's possible to run Chandra for less money" than today, he said, "but more than what they were given."

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I choose to maintain funds inside the Utah My529 college savings plan for all three of my children. Formerly known as the Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP), this plan has become my primary, favorite plan after trying out several different ones. (I don’t live in Utah; I live in a state with no special tax benefits for 529 contributions.) The Utah My529 plan feels like it has the highest quality of administrative ease/customer service, the widest options for DIY investors (while still maintaining a solid auto-pilot Target-Date option), and long-term commitment to keeping their fees low. Accordingly, they are consistently top-rated by Morningstar and other ratings systems.

In their July 2024 newsletter, they again announced they were lowering the administrative fee on most of their investment options. Every 529 plan charges an administrative fee on top of the expense ratios of the underlying investments like mutual funds. For example, an asset fee of 0.10% is the same as charging $10 a year for every $10,000 in assets invested.

Although Utah may not be the lowest in every option, they consistently are amongst the lowest and keep going lower. This made me want to look up their history of fee drops. It turns out they have lowered fees in 10 out of the last 12 years, although I couldn’t dig up every historical change date.

• August 2024: Administrative Asset Fee for Target Enrollment Date and Static investment options lowered from 0.10% to 0.09%.
  Customized investment options lowered from 0.13% to 0.12%.
• July 2023: Administrative Asset Fee for Target Enrollment Date and Static investment options lowered to 0.10%. Customized investment options lowered to 0.13%. (source)
• […]
• October 2020: Administrative Asset Fee for Age-Based and Static investment options lowered from 0.13% to 0.12%.
  Customized investment options lowered from 0.18% to 0.15%.
• February 2018. Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) changed its name to my529, effective February 5, 2018.
• […]
• July 2017: Administrative Asset Fee for Age-Based and Static investment options lowered from 0.17% to 0.16%.
• […]
• June 2013: UESP fees dropped an average of 10% overall. Administrative asset fee was 0.15% to 0.20%, now lowered to between 0.14% and 0.18% most Age-Based and Static investment options. Customized investment option at 0.20% (make your own glide path).

Note: At some point, they changed from the “Age-Based” label to “Target Enrollment Date” but it’s basically the same idea of a glide path that changes as the student ages, in preparation for their college enrollment date.

Each annual change may only amount to $1 to $20 a year in savings, but I do think it shows an ongoing commitment to passing on savings as their assets under management grow. I believe the Utah plan is now the 3rd-largest direct-sold plan in the nation. This is impressive considering the New York plan at #1 has the benefit of a large in-state tax break (and large population) to help it grow, and the Nevada plan is co-branded with Vanguard. The Utah plan includes mostly low-cost Vanguard investments, but is independent and also includes investment options from other providers like DFA and PIMCO. I enjoy being able to set up my own glide path with a large menu of investment options.

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Utah My529 Plan Lowers Fees Again: A Consistent History of Fee Drops from My Money Blog.

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"Despite its domestic space program faltering even before sanctions due to its invasion of Ukraine, and at least one very public failure on a less ambitious project, Russia has announced it will begin construction of a Russian-only replacement for the ISS and place it in a more difficult-to-access polar orbit," writes longtime Slashdot reader Baron_Yam. "Russia is motivated by military and political demands to achieve this, but whether it has the means or not seems uncertain at best." Reuters reports: Russia is aiming to create the four-module core of its planned new orbital space station by 2030, its Roscosmos space agency said on Tuesday. The head of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, signed off on the timetable with the directors of 19 enterprises involved in creating the new station. The agency confirmed plans to launch an initial scientific and energy module in 2027. It said three more modules would be added by 2030 and a further two between 2031 and 2033. [...] Apart from the design and manufacture of the modules, Roscomos said the schedule approved by Borisov includes flight-testing a new-generation crewed spacecraft and building rockets and ground-based infrastructure. The new station will enable Russia to "solve problems of scientific and technological development, national economy and national security that are not available on the Russian segment of the ISS due to technological limitations and the terms of international agreements," it said.

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AI has the potential to benefit every sector in the UK, from helping teachers craft engaging lesson plans to improving small businesses’ customer service, and even helpi…

FOSS Weekly #24.30: Mint 22 Features, Ultramarine Linux, CrowdStrike on Linux and More  It's FOSS

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: A team of Australian scientists is genetically engineering a common fly species so that it can eat more of humanity's organic waste while producing ingredients for making everything from lubricants and biofuels to high-grade animal feeds. Black soldier flies are already being used commercially to consume organic waste, including food waste, but tweaking their genetics could widen the range of waste their larvae consume while, in the process, producing fatty compounds and enzymes. In a scientific paper, the team based at Sydney's Macquarie University outlined their hopes for the flies and how they could also cut the amount of planet-warming methane produced when organic waste breaks down. "We are heading towards a climate disaster, and landfill waste releases methane. We need to get that to zero," Dr Kate Tepper, a lead author of the paper, said. Dr Maciej Maselko runs an animal synthetic biology lab at Macquarie University where Tepper has already started engineering the flies. Maselko said insects would be the "next frontier" in dealing with the planet's waste management problem, which weighs in at about 1 billion tons a year in food waste alone. Black soldier flies are found in all continents except Antarctica. "If you've got a compost bin, then you've probably got some," Maselko said. The fly larvae can eat double their body weight a day and, like other insects, their larvae are used for animal feed. Maselko said the flies could already do the job of consuming waste faster than microbes. The university team has created a spin-off company, EntoZyme, to commercialize their work and hopes to have the first genetically engineered flies for use in waste facilities by the end of the year. [...] Creating a suite of genetically engineered flies would see them also produce enzymes used in animal feeds, textiles and pharmaceuticals, and fatty compounds that can be used to make biofuels and lubricants. Another proposed use is for some flies to be able to consume contaminated waste, which would then leave behind their poo that could be used as fertilizer. Tepper said flies can be engineered to deal with pollutants in several ways, including by breaking pollutants down into less toxic or inorganic compounds, evaporating them into the air or accumulating some pollutants into their bodies that can then be separated, leaving clean organic waste behind. The research has been published in the journal Communications Biology.

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New Zealand has lodged a formal complaint with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after a Canadian soccer "support staff member" allegedly flew a drone over their training session. The Canadian Olympic Committee has apologized, expressed shock and disappointment, and launched an investigation into the incident. ESPN reports: The COC said the individual has been detained by French authorities. "Team support members immediately reported the incident to police, leading to the drone operator, who has been identified as a support staff member of the wider Canadian Women's football team, to be detained," the NZOC said in a statement. "The NZOC has formally lodged the incident with the IOC integrity unit and has asked Canada for a full review. [...] For their part, Canada has said it was also stunned. The COC said it was made aware that a "non-accredited" member of its support team had used a drone to record the Silver Ferns' practice. "The Canadian Olympic Committee stands for fair-play and we are shocked and disappointed. We offer our heartfelt apologies to New Zealand Football, to all the players affected, and to the New Zealand Olympic Committee." It added it was "reviewing next steps" with the IOC, the Paris organizing committee and FIFA. The person responsible was Joseph Lombardi, an unaccredited analyst with Canada Soccer. As a result of these findings, Lombardi is being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and sent home immediately. The same punishment will be applied to Jasmine Mander, the assistant coach to whom Mr. Lombardi sent information to. Furthermore, Head Coach Bev Priestman has removed herself from coaching the match against New Zealand on July 25th and the entire Canada Soccer staff will undergo mandatory ethics training.

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For International Intern Day 2024, hear stories from Google interns around the world.For International Intern Day 2024, hear stories from Google interns around the world.

In a blog post on Tuesday, security firm KnowBe4 revealed that a remote software engineer hire was a North Korean threat actor using a stolen identity and AI-augmented images. "Detailing a seemingly thorough interview process that included background checks, verified references and four video conference-based interviews, KnowBe4 founder and CEO Stu Sjouwerman said the worker avoided being caught by using a valid identity that was stolen from a U.S.-based individual," reports CyberScoop. "The scheme was further enhanced by the actor using a stock image augmented by artificial intelligence." From the report: An internal investigation started when KnowBe4's InfoSec Security Operations Center team detected "a series of suspicious activities" from the new hire. The remote worker was sent an Apple laptop, which was flagged by the company on July 15 when malware was loaded onto the machine. The AI-filtered photo, meanwhile, was flagged by the company's Endpoint Detection and Response software. Later that evening, the SOC team had "contained" the fake worker's systems after he stopped responding to outreach. During a roughly 25-minute period, "the attacker performed various actions to manipulate session history files, transfer potentially harmful files, and execute unauthorized software," Sjouwerman wrote in the post. "He used a [single-board computer] raspberry pi to download the malware." From there, the company shared its data and findings with the FBI and with Mandiant, the Google-owned cyber firm, and came to the conclusion that the worker was a fictional persona operating from North Korea. KnowBe4 said the fake employee likely had his workstation connected "to an address that is basically an 'IT mule laptop farm.'" They'd then use a VPN to work the night shift from where they actually reside -- in this case, North Korea "or over the border in China." That work would take place overnight, making it appear that they're logged on during normal U.S. business hours. "The scam is that they are actually doing the work, getting paid well, and give a large amount to North Korea to fund their illegal programs," Sjouwerman wrote. "I don't have to tell you about the severe risk of this." Despite the intrusion, Sjouwerman said "no illegal access was gained, and no data was lost, compromised, or exfiltrated on any KnowBe4 systems." He chalked up the incident to a threat actor that "demonstrated a high level of sophistication in creating a believable cover identity" and identified "weaknesses in the hiring and background check processes."

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